The Pope joins twitter

Social media is one of the most important aspects of modern life. From updating your Facebook timeline with the latest pictures of a night out, to tweeting that you are going to bed, it is truly pervasive for the Internet generation. Companies have also flooded social media in an attempt to improve brand recognition and Internet marketing.

It also seems that traditional bastions are not immune to the rapidly changing world with the Vatican today announcing that the Pope will begin tweeting from his own twitter account @pontifex. A spokesperson for the Vatican says that Pope Benedict XVI wanted to “reach out to everyone”.

Apparently, the Pope will be using a question and answer style format for his first Twitter session, attempting to answer questions about faith in 140 characters. His first tweet will be on December 12th and he already has over 200,000 followers. Of course any ill judged comments regarding the use of condoms or about violence and Islam may be vetted before they are sent.

I’m sure for fellow non-religious people, it would be more interesting to see what the Pope is having for dinner, or what he reads while on the toilet, but we are unlikely to see any tweets about that any time soon.